The present invention relates to urological catheters and, in particular, to improvements in such catheters which render them less likely to injure the delicate bladder tissue and/or to cause discomfort to the patient.
Urological catheters employing retention balloons, inflatable after insertion into the patient's bladder, have been known for some time. Such catheters, however, have often caused injury and/or discomfort to the patient in at least two different ways. First, since the catheter must be made sufficiently rigid to permit insertion into the bladder and to prevent collapse of the catheter wall and blockage of the drainage lumen, the distal tip of the catheter is typically sufficiently rigid to irritate, and even cause damage to, the bladder wall. Second, the bladder can collapse over the drainage eye thereby blocking the drainage path for fluid from the bladder and potentially damaging bladder tissue if a column of liquid in the drainage lumen produces a high level of suction at the drainage eye.
In view of the foregoing, among the objects of the present invention may be noted the provision of a urological catheter which both prevents damage to the bladder wall and prevents occlusion of the catheter's drainage opening by the bladder tissue itself. Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be partly apparent and partly pointed out in the description below.